Elements of Worship

On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Matthew 2:11 (New International Version, NIV)

The magi, or wise men as we sometimes call them, brought gifts to Jesus as an act of worship. They honored Him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Frankincense was a type of incense, as the name implies. Let’s look at these three elements of worship more closely: gold, incense, and myrrh.

Gold was a gift for kings. This points to Jesus being God in the flesh; King of the Universe. It also speaks of perfection. Christ lived a sinless life, pleasing the Father always.

Incense was offered in the Tabernacle of Moses on the altar of incense and it represents continual prayer and worship to God. It speaks of Christ offering up His life on the altar of the cross. Christ was the ultimate offering to God.

Myrrh was used for the dead. It was a perfume and also was used for embalming. It was also an ingredient in the holy anointing oil. It symbolizes the suffering and death of Jesus Christ , which was a sweet fragrance unto God.

What do these three gifts mean to us today? What is their significance? They are all important elements of our worship to God. We are to come and behold Jesus. As we do, we will bow down and open up our hearts’ treasures to Him.

Gold

As our holy King, we are to give Jesus our hearts of gold purified by the things we go through. A pure heart produces pure worship to God, our King.

Incense

We offer ourselves in prayer and worship, a sweet fragrance, or smell, going up to Jesus. Since Jesus offered His life, love, and self, we can do no less.

Myrrh

Jesus laid His life down, dying for us, because of His love for us. Our response should be to return that love by laying our lives down for Him. We love Him because He first loved us.

Let’s open our treasures and give them to Jesus. We can give nothing less than our all to love and worship the One who is worthy of it all. Offering our lives to God, we die to the flesh and we please God. That is what true worship is really about.